Decision makers

Stop the Execution of a Framed Man: Clemency for Kevin Cooper

The LATimes and the NYTimes have both run opinion pieces that open with this line: "The state of California may be about to execute an innocent man."

Both papers quote the dissenting opinion of of Judge William Fletcher of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Fletcher is one of five justices on the ninth circuit court of appeals who thinks Kevin Cooper was more likely than not framed by police. His case includes clear evidence of a frame-up, including his blood planted on evidence by police officers, but procedural hang-ups have prevented him from ever making a full case in court. But, unless Governor Schwarzenegger grants him clemency, he'll be executed.

Write Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and tell him to offer clemency to Kevin Cooper.

How can we execute a man that some of our most esteemed judges think was framed?

In his dissenting opinion, Judge William A. Fletcher of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals writes that Kevin Cooper's trial ought to have been re-opened, because a lower court improperly interfered with important evidence suggesting he was deliberately framed by the investigating officers, who a test showed planted Cooper's blood on evidence.

I'm writing to ask you to grant clemency to Kevin Cooper. From the beginning investigators were discarding exculpatory evidence and ignoring other leads, and our criminal justice system has failed to give Kevin Cooper a fair hearing of all the evidence. If Kevin Cooper is executed it will be a disgrace to the integrity of our justice system and a tragic end to the 25-year incarceration of a possibly innocent man.